Set Game Match
by Ethereal Prey
Summary: Caroline is a tennis player ranked #17 in the world. She faces Rebekah who's ranked #1 at the US Open. Klaus is a has been tennis star who parties and womanizes. They meet and egos collide. But who wins in the end?


Oh hi! I know you're expecting an update on that other story that I was writing. Here's a one shot for you, cause I was working the US Open this whole time, so I got inspired for this. hope you're amused. No I don't know all the technical tennis terms so don't kill me. see you at the bottom.

* * *

Caroline bounced the ball on the court before making her serve. She took a deep breath in. She could do this. She had made it this far. She was in the women's finals at the US Open. This was her turf. Sure she had lost the Australian Open, and the French Open and Wimbledon. But she's an American. And she's going to prove she's got every right to be here. She threw the ball up into the air, and swung her racket. She served the ball and waited for Rebekah Mikaelson to send it back to her.

Sure Rebekah had won all those other opens. She won Wimbledon, she was British it would seem wrong if she didn't. She was ranked #1 in the world. Of course she was going to win. Caroline cleared all thoughts out of her mind. All she could see was the little green tennis ball coming at her. She swung her racket again. She wouldn't go down without a fight.

Caroline was breathing hard when they got a short break. She sat down and drank some water. She looked up into the stands and saw her mom smiling at her. Her best friends Elena and Bonnie was sitting there next to her giving her the thumbs up. She had made it this far, she was going to win. She had to win. She was ranked 17th in the world. No one expected her to make it this far. True it was a disaster at the the Australian open. She didn't even make it past her first game. She did slightly better at the French Open. Who knew playing on clay would be so strange? She did better at Wimbledon. Playing on grass made her think of playing with her dad when she was a child. But she didn't make it very far there either. But she and Matt played mixed doubles against the Mikaelsons. That's when she met him.

Klaus was sitting in the stands watching his sister play against Caroline. He hadn't expected the match to last this long. Caroline was fighting to win and she wouldn't go down that easily. Perhaps that's what attracted him to her. He remembered the first time he played against her. Mixed doubles with her friend Matt who had a mean serve but lacked the endurance of a long match.

"He's getting tired Rebekah" Klaus said as he walked past her on the court

"I noticed, he's not going to last long" Rebekah replied taking the ball from the ball boy

"She's not giving up anytime soon though"

"She can't play for the both of them"

"I'll take her"

"I'm sure you will. Let's end this already. They look so pitiful out there"

Rebekah served the ball. Matt swung and missed the ball. Caroline ran and hit it back. Klaus hit the ball back. Caroline ran to hit it, she ended up missing the ball and skidding her knee on the court. Even though it was grass she still managed to bang up her knee. Matt helped her up.

"Are you alright Care?" Matt asked

"Yeah, I missed"

"Who cares? Your knee, we need to see a medic"

"Ok"

Since Caroline missed the ball, the Mikaelsons had won the match and would move on to the finals. Klaus watched as Matt lifted Caroline into his arms and carried her off the court. He would be forever intrigued by her.

He would see her again at the US Open. He was going with his sister to see her win. He himself wouldn't be competing much. He'd spend his time partying, drinking and womanizing. He didn't care about tennis anymore. His father had made it too much of a job instead of fun. And he could see that he was doing it to Rebekah as well. He watched as Mikael drilled it into Rebekah about winning and made her practice constantly so she would be at the top of her game. He walked away from them practicing and saw Caroline practicing on another open court. She was practicing serving by hitting the cans that held the tennis balls. She managed to hit them all. He was impressed. He watched her walk over to the other side of the court, picking up the cans. His eyes roamed up her long legs. His eyes saw the faint scar on her knee. She walked back to her side of the court and saw him standing there.

"Don't mind me, continue" Klaus said

"This isn't an exhibition"

"If it was you'd be choking on the court"

Caroline's eyes narrow and she quickly hit one of the tennis balls with her racket aimed at him. He moved out of the way.

"Now is that any way to treat her fellow player?"

"I know who you are"

"You've heard of me, fantastic"

"Your reputation precedes you"

"Not all bad I hope"

"Partying, drinking, man whoring"

"You say that as if it's a bad thing"

"Go find some other girl to pass the time with, I'm trying to practice here"

"Is that what you call this?"

Caroline hit another tennis ball at him. He moved out of the way again and smiled.

"At least you can aim" Klaus smirked

Caroline grabbed another ball to hit, when he walked up to her and held onto her racket, stepping into her personal space.

"How about a real game?"

"I wouldn't want to hurt you old man"

"Let's see if you can hit it over the net little girl"

Klaus took his jacket off and picked up a racket and walked to the other side of the court.

"Whenever you're ready sweetheart!" Klaus yelled out

Photographers who were taking pictures of Rebekah practicing saw Klaus and Caroline practicing and rushed over to take pictures.

"That was out!" Caroline yelled

"That was clearly in!" Klaus yelled back

"It was OUT!" Caroline yelled as she approached the net

"It was IN!" Klaus walked to the net

The photographers were snapping pictures of the two.

"Are you blind old man?" Caroline said

"Your inexperience shows. It was clearly in"

"It was OUT!"

"Don't be a sore loser love"

Caroline and Klaus became aware of the photographers snapping pictures of them and stopped yelling. They looked over at them.

"You with the camera! Was that out or in?" Klaus yelled out

The photographers checked their pictures.

"It was IN!" the photographer yelled

"See sweetheart, experience always wins" Klaus smirked

"I'm done with this" Caroline said as she walked away

"Don't be like that love, it was only practice" Klaus jumped over the net to follow her

Caroline was putting her racket into her bag. Klaus walked over to her.

"Don't be like this. I'll be your consolation prize then"

Caroline swung her bag over her shoulder and hit him with it as she walked away. Klaus picked up his jacket and followed her.

"Go away!" Caroline said

"What? I thought we were getting along"

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to have a civil conversation"

"I don't want to talk to you"

"But I won, and the least you could do is be nice to me"

"It was practice"

"Still it was in"

"Fine it was in, what do you want so you can go away already?"

"Join me for a drink later"

"I don't drink"

"Coffee, tea, reversed osmosis water if you want"

"Fine!"

"Lovely, meet you at 7 at the cafe across from your hotel"

"How did you-"

"We're all at the same hotel love"

The photographers were still following them and Caroline quickly left. Klaus leisurely strolled back to where Rebekah was.

* * *

Caroline walked into the cafe in a blue dress. She left her down and she saw him sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea. He was so British. She walked over to him. He saw her and got up.

"I'm glad you came" he said

Caroline smiled and sat down. The waitress came over and set down a glass and poured water into it and left the bottle and left. Caroline looked at the bottle and let out a small laugh.

"You agreed to reverse osmosis water" Klaus said

"And here you are drinking hot tea"

"Would you like some?"

"It's too hot for tea"

"It's never too hot love"

Caroline felt her cheeks flush pink and quickly took a sip of the cold water. She looked up at him and saw him grinning at her.

"So what are you doing here?"

"Having tea with a lovely woman"

"I meant at the open"

"To support my sister"

"Weren't you like ranked 12th in the world?"

"10th actually"

"So why don't you play then?"

"I have no desire to play anymore"

"Sucks to be you then"

"I used to play because it was fun. But my father drove it in us to win. It became tedious and I no longer wanted to play anymore"

"My father gave me my first racket when I was 8. I kept playing ever since. Drove my mom crazy cause I would play in the house, broke so many things"

"Rebekah did that too. Except she broke a lot of windows"

"Bet your dad loved that"

Klaus smiled in response and Caroline drank her water.

"How's your knee?" Klaus asked

"Fine"

"Your partner that day didn't have the stamina to make it through the match"

"Yeah, but he clocks in at 110 when he serves"

"Strength isn't everything, stamina will get you through the match"

"And how's yours?"

"No complaints yet love"

"I'll bet."

"It was just practice today, we can play a real game later"

"Just to be clear, I'm too smart to be seduced by you"

"I know, that's why I like you"

Caroline didn't know how to respond so she looked down and then something caught the corner of her eye. She looked over and saw there were more photographers outside the cafe snapping pictures. She turned her head quickly and covered her face. Klaus noticed a change in her body language and looked over and saw the photographers. He was used to seeing them, having them follow him around.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Klaus

"I hate it when they do that" Caroline said

"What? Take pictures?"

"I have to go"

Klaus grabbed onto her hand to stop her.

"Wait, don't go out the front door, they're going to mob you. Let's go out the back"

Klaus dropped a bill on the table and led her out holding onto her hand. The photographers quickly snapped more pictures. Klaus went out the back door into the alley and led her out.

"You've done this before" Caroline said

"I've had practice doing this"

Caroline felt a drop on her nose. She looked up and saw the sky was grey.

"Oh no!" Caroline said

Klaus looked back at her. He heard the thunder. It started to rain.

"We should go" Klaus led her out of the alleyway

They saw the photographers all around the cafe. Klaus held onto Caroline's hand and they quickly ran across the street. The photographers saw them and started chasing them. Klaus and Caroline ran towards the hotel. The bell boy was pushing the luggage cart out of the way of the rain.

"Get on!" Klaus yelled as he grabbed onto the cart

Caroline jumped onto the cart as Klaus pushed it into the hotel. The photographers chased them inside. Everyone got out of the way of the cart as Klaus pushed it towards the elevators.

"Beep beep!" Caroline called out

They made it into the elevator as the doors were closing. The photographers were still chasing after them when the door closed.

"Did we lose them?" Caroline said getting out of the cart

"Yes"

"Where is this thing going?" Caroline asked

Klaus looked over at the buttons and none of them were pushed.

"Bloody hell" Klaus said

The elevator door opened and the photographers were there snapping pictures. The flashes were blinding, and Klaus held his hand up to see. He pushed the button for a floor, but the photographers held the doors open. Caroline covered her face and looked away. There were several questions being yelled out at them.

"Are you two dating?"

"Are you playing a doubles match together?"

"How does your sister feel about this?"

Klaus was annoyed and pushed the luggage cart out at them and they fell back finally. The doors finally closed.

"Are you alright?" Klaus asked

Caroline was hugging herself in the corner. He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey" Klaus said gently

He pulled her into his arms and held her close. He could feel her trembling. She was not used to this. Her arms wrapped around him.

"It's ok, you're safe. It's just me" Klaus said

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Klaus looked over at what floor it was.

"Come along" Klaus said as he led her out the elevator

Caroline followed him and not realizing where she was going. She looked up and realized she was in his hotel room, rather suite. It was bigger than her room by far, it was bigger than her house back at Mystic Falls. She felt a towel being placed around her shoulders. She looked over and saw that it was Klaus. She pulled the towel around her and started to dry herself off. She saw Klaus take his jacket off and his shirt off. She quickly looked away. Klaus returned wearing a fluffy white hotel robe.

"Would you like more water?" Klaus asked

"I'm good thanks. I should go"

"So soon?"

"Yes, some of us have finals to play"

"I wasn't aware you were playing, I thought you were just practicing"

Caroline threw the towel at him. She turned to leave when Klaus stopped her.

"Don't be like that love"

"We all can't be partying manwhores"

Klaus placed his hand over his heart, feigning that he was hurt.

"You wound me"

"Doubt it. Though I'll kick your ass the next time you're on my court"

"Is that a date?"

"No! Why do you always have to do that?!"

"Do what?"

"I'm leaving"

Klaus was still blocking her.

"Get out of my way"

"What do you want?"

"I want to leave"

"No, what do you really want? Why are you here? You choked at the Australian and French Open, you barely made it through your matches in Wimbledon."

"You don't know me!"

"I know you're strong and beautiful and you have a fire in your eyes, but the second you step onto that court it fades and disappears. Why?"

"I play the best I can!"

"No! You play to win!"

"I'm trying!"

"Then try harder!"

Caroline grabbed onto the collar of the white robe and pulled him towards her. Her lips were on his and it took him a second to realize what was happening. She felt his arms hold her closer. He kissed her back feeling her pressed harder into his body. She felt the back of the sofa against her back. Klaus lifted her up, her legs wrapped around him as she sat on the edge of the sofa. Caroline's hand slipped under his robe and felt his chest. He was so warm. She reached down and tugged at his robe. She opened it and pushed it off his shoulders. He pulled his arms through and it fell to the floor. Klaus was pushing her dress up and heard her whimper as his fingers trailed up her inner thigh.

"What the hell Nik?!" Rebekah yelled

Klaus looked back and saw his sister standing with the door wide open, looking away.

"Sorry sis" Nik let go of Caroline and reached down to get his robe.

Caroline fell back onto the sofa and screamed. She rolled off the sofa onto the floor with a loud thump. Klaus pulled the robe around himself. Rebekah slammed the door shut and looked down at the floor walking to her room.

"Get your whores out of here Nik!" Rebekah yelled

"Sorry about that!" Nik answered

The door to her room slammed shut and Klaus looked over at Caroline on the floor.

"Sorry about that sweetheart" Klaus said as he went to help her up

Caroline stood there realizing what she had almost done. She pushed her hair out of her face.

"I'm leaving" Caroline said heading to the door

"Can I see you again, after the match?" Klaus asked

"Only if I win" Caroline answered

"Then you better win"

* * *

Caroline was tired, she hadn't expected the match to go on this long. She waited for Rebekah to serve. She saw the ball coming and she ran to hit it. Neither one of them would give up, they both came to win. Caroline hit the ball hard and waited for Rebekah to hit it back. She stood there and waited, but it never came. The crowd cheered. Caroline looked at Rebekah who missed the ball. The point was her, the game was hers, the match was hers. She had won. Caroline stood there for a second before she realized she had won. She looked at the crowd who stood up and cheered for her. Still clutching her racket she slowly lowered it. She fell to her knees and as the realization set in. She placed her hands on the court, they were hard unlike the French open which were clay, and unlike Wimbledon which was grass. On this hard court she had won. She raised her hands into the air and smiled. She got up and walked over to the net where Rebekah stood and shook her hand.

"Well played" Rebekah said

"You too" Caroline said

They both went and shook the hands of the umpire. She looked out into the stands and saw her mom who was cheering for her.

"Mom! Mom!" Caroline ran into the stands, climbing over people.

"Caroline!" Liz yelled as she tried to get down there.

"Mom! I won Mom!" Caroline started running up the steps

Photographers were taking pictures while Caroline ran past them. She hugged her mom and cried.

"I did it! I won!" Caroline cried

"Yes you did. Your father would have been so proud"

"I won, I can't believe I won"

Caroline held the large silver trophy in her hands as the photographers took pictures of her posing with it. She wiped the tears away from her face and still couldn't believe she won. She had beat Rebekah who was ranked #1, while she was #17.  
Cameras and mikes were shoved in her face. They were all waiting for her to say something.

"Thanks to my mom who supported me this whole time. I'm sorry that I broke everything in the house. Thanks to my friends who stayed by me, thanks to my sponsors for getting here, and thanks to my dad for giving me my first racket. I hope you're watching me, wherever you are. And to all the kids out there from small towns like me, you can make it. You can win this, just believe in yourself. Thank you"

Caroline walked off and needed to shower. She got dressed and headed out. Security had taken her trophy for keeping and would return it to her at the hotel. She walked out and saw Nik standing there.

"Would you like some reverse osmosis water?" Nik asked

"I want my prize"

"It comes with water"

Caroline reached around his neck and crashed her lips against his.

* * *

Nik awoke naked and alone in his bed. He looked around and saw that she was gone. He saw a tennis ball on the side of the bed where she was. He picked it up.

_See you next year at practice. xo Caroline_

Klaus smiled and held the ball closer to him. He got out of bed and got dressed. He went outside into the suite and saw Rebekah there with her luggage.

"What are you doing? The plane leaves in 3 hours" Rebekah said

"I'm going on a detour" Klaus said

"What?"

"You'll be fine without me"

"What are you up to?"

"Nothing. Now go run along, mustn't keep father waiting"

"Ugh, father, you think winning 3 opens would be good enough for him"

"You know you can always fire him"

"Tempting"

"Just saying"

* * *

Klaus was heading down to the lobby. He was going to ask what room Caroline was in when he saw her on tv. She was at the airport signing tennis balls and hats as she was catching her plane. Where was she going? He was reading the closed caption on what she was saying.

"Now that you've won your first grand slam title, what are you going to do?" the reporter asked

"I'm going home for a while, to rest a little, to give back to the community. And to drink a lot of water"

Klaus smiled and went to the airport. He wasn't going to let her go that easily.

* * *

Caroline was at the cemetery standing over a grave. She placed a tennis ball on it.  
"I won dad. I finally won. I didn't think I could do it, but I did. I wish you could have been there to see it. I wish you could have seen me. I miss you dad. I hope you got to see me wherever you are. I hope you got to see me win"

* * *

Caroline was at the local school giving tennis lessons to the kids. They were outside on a makeshift court. She was teaching the kids how to hold the racket and swing. The kids then started hitting the balls and she stepped back. She watched them play and smiled. One day one of these kids would be at the US Open playing on the courts, and winning the title. One of these kids from her small town would make it.

She felt a tennis ball hit her on the side and she turned to see where it came from. She saw him walking towards her smirking.

"What are you doing here?" she asked

"Don't like it when it hits you?"

"I thought you went back to England"

"I forgot something"

"What?"

"You"

Klaus kissed her gently and then heard a sea of Eww and gross. He looked over and saw the kids staring at them.

"Get back to practice!" Klaus said

The kids looked away and went back to serving and hitting the tennis balls. Caroline looked up at him.

"Are we going to practice?" Caroline asked

"Yes, thoroughly just like before, except you won't disappear in the morning, leaving me with a tennis ball"

"That was a consolation prize"

"Let's go practice, sweetheart"

* * *

Hope you were amused. I'm never working the US open again.


End file.
